6 Tips for Parents to Help Kids Adjust to the Fall Back Time Change

October 30, 2025

Every year, parents brace themselves for that bittersweet event known as the “fall back” — when clocks turn back one hour for the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST). While gaining an hour of sleep sounds amazing in theory, parents of babies and young kids know it usually means one thing: an hour earlier wake-up.

Your 6:00 AM riser may suddenly be up at 5:00 AM... bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready for breakfast before the sun even thinks about coming up. But don’t panic. With a little planning, you can help your child ease into the new schedule without too much chaos.

Here are six helpful tips to make the “fall back” transition smoother for your family.

1. Delay the Entire Day, Not Just Bedtime

Most advice for this time change focuses on bedtime, but the trickiest part of “fall back” is that everything suddenly feels an hour early - meals, naps, and wake-ups. Instead of changing bedtime alone, shift your child’s entire routine later in small increments over a few days.

Start 3–5 days before the time change by moving wake-up, meals, naps, and bedtime 10–15 minutes later each day. For example:

• Wake up at 7:10 instead of 7:00

• Breakfast at 7:40 instead of 7:30

• Nap at 1:15 instead of 1:00

This full-day adjustment helps your child’s internal clock move gradually rather than forcing one big change on Sunday morning.

2. Keep Mornings Dim and Evenings Bright

The human body uses light to set its internal clock, so it’s no surprise that the shorter fall days can throw kids off.

When your child wakes early after the time change, keep the lights low and shades drawn. Avoid bright lights, screens, and loud activity as you’re trying to signaling to their body that it’s still “sleep time.”

In contrast, make afternoons as bright as possible. Open curtains, play outside after school, and eat dinner in a well-lit space. That extra light exposure helps shift their circadian rhythm later, making bedtime easier to handle.

3. Reinforce “Quiet Playtime” Mornings with a Sleep Training Clock

An sleep training clock ("OK to Wake" clock) can be an excellent tool to help your child adjust to the new time. These clocks use colors or visual cues to indicate when it’s time to wake up, reinforcing the new schedule without confusion. MELLA, our bestselling kid's clock, and NESSI, our newcomer sister clock, are both proven to reduce bedtime struggles and early morning wake ups!

Before the time change, show your child that yellow means “rest time” and green means “time to get up.” Then, after clocks fall back, set the “green” time later than usual and gradually shift it back to the normal time as their body adjusts.

This approach gives kids a visual reference instead of a verbal one. No more repeating “It’s too early!” at 5:15 in the morning.

4. Use a “Bedtime Pass” to Reduce Nighttime Stalling

After Fall Back, kids often feel tired earlier in the evening, which can backfire into multiple “false starts”; they fall asleep too early, wake up at 4:30 AM, and the cycle continues.

To keep bedtime consistent while giving them some control, use a bedtime pass. Let your child use one pass per night to come out of their room for something minor such as a hug, a drink of water, etc.

Once it’s used, it’s gone. This simple system reduces repeated bedtime battles and helps kids stay in bed long enough for their bodies to adjust to the new schedule.

Our Reward Chart and Bedtime Pass is an excellent sleep-centered reward chart and even comes with a high quality acrylic bedtime pass, which, combined with the reward chart, can supercharge your efforts.

5. Protect Naps... But Watch the Timing

It’s tempting to skip naps when your child wakes up too early, but overtired kids actually have more trouble falling asleep at the right time. Keep naps in the schedule during the transition week, even if they’re shorter.

Just make sure they don’t nap too late! You want at least 3–4 hours between nap wake-up and bedtime. If your child still naps in the afternoon, aim to end it by 3:00 PM to protect bedtime.

6. Reframe the Week as “Adjustment Mode”

The most important piece of advice? Give yourself grace. No one adjusts overnight - not even adults.

Use this week to focus on consistency, not perfection. Expect earlier mornings and slightly crankier evenings. Try to avoid major disruptions like travel or schedule changes.

If your child wakes early, keep mornings calm and low-stimulation until the “real” wake time. After a few days of consistency, their internal clock will catch up. Usually by day 4 or 5, things feel normal again.

Final Thoughts

The Fall Back time change can be tough, but it’s also a great opportunity to refresh your family’s sleep habits. With gradual shifts, smart light exposure, and tools like MELLA, NESSI, and our Reward Chart + Bedtime Pass, you can make this transition feel like a gentle reset instead of a disruption.

And while we may not actually get that mythical “extra hour of sleep,” with a bit of patience and planning, you’ll soon have your mornings back on track and your kids sleeping soundly once again.

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